Shadows of Equality
by Shadowsnake89
Summary: When Firuz, a member of Tarrlok's task force, decides he has a better way to combat Amon's Revolution, he forms a force of his own, each with a drive to put an end to the terror. However, he'll find that many of them may be more trouble than they're worth, especially when one of them means trouble for the whole team. And what happens when they encounter a man pushed to his limit.
1. Chapter 1

"Firuz." Tarrlok says happily as he and many of the members of his task force attend another of the cities overly extravagant social events. "How are you my friend. Enjoying the festivities I hope." Firuz was another of the Northern Water Tribe Councilman's choices for his task force to bring down Amon's revolution. A very powerful earthbender in his own right, he did voice his concern on several occasions about having Avatar Korra work with the team, seeing it more as a publicity stunt than for any real tactical purposes.

"Very much so sir. Actually I thought I might have a word with you about the Task Force." Firuz's words fall flat as the councilman turns to talk to two of the other guests, barely hearing any of what he says.

"Of course of course. I'll have my assistant put it on the books. Now if you'll excuse me." the politician moves off to mingle with the other guests. This action angers the earthbender, once again being written off by Tarrlok, who seemingly has no concern outside of his own self interest. This had been his reaction and response each time Firuz had attempted to give his recommendations on how to improve the force's productiveness in the field. By this point he was fed up with it.

"Ah Tarrlok. Never seems to have time for anything but publicity shots, huh captain?" Firuz turns to see the Earth Kingdom Councilman with a smile on his face.

"Sir." he jumps to attention, addressing the older man with the respect he felt he deserved.

"Ha ha, relax Firuz. You're not on duty."

"My apologies councilman Hitachi. How have you been these last few weeks?"

"Truthfully I've been better. Doctor's say my blood pressure's up; recommending me to take some time off. Would be good to visit my grandchildren in Omashu but with all this Equalist business, now is not a good time."

"Especially with Tarrlok's power trip."

"You've noticed that have you? Tarrlok may be a little too full of himself but you can't argue with his results."

"All due respect sir, the councilman is only interested in how he looks to the public. The same reason he conned the Avatar into joining the force. And all the missions we've completed our a joke. Training camps, temporary hideouts, small convoys of no more than four enemy chi blockers; it just isn't making much of a difference. We're picking off scraps while Amon and his men are amassing power. But councilman Tarrlok writes my plans off as nothing to be worried about and that he has the situation handled."

"What are you suggesting captain?"

"With your permission sir I'd like to put my own team together, people I could handpick myself. We'd be able to do the jobs the official task force won't. We could make a real difference. All of this would be off the records of course, so that nothing could be traced back to the council."

Councilman Hitachi stands still, thinking for a moment before giving his answer. "Very well, permission granted captain." the two shake hands, sealing the agreement.

"Thank you sir. You won't be disappointed. Of course it would be best if the other council members knew nothing about this. Best for everyone's status if they were blissfully unaware." Firuz adds as the councilman agrees, ensuring that Tarrlok will not be able to interfere with his assignment. Afterward, Hitachi excuses himself and gets back to socializing. "All right." he says under his breath before walking over to a teenage girl wearing glasses in an elegant green and yellow dress, her long Brown hair tied into two braids. "Meet me at my office Kiri. We've gotten a new mission." He says before disappearing outside the building.

* * *

The girl, her eyes a dark brown and her skin a very light complexion, watches as he leaves then sighs in frustration. "Typical. Even on my day off I still have to work."

* * *

Late night on the docks of Republic City's Yue Bay, a small group of about seven men of the Red Monsoon Triad make their way into one of the many warehouses that dot the shipping area. The group duck down behind a stack of crates as a search light from one of the patrol boats,waiting a few moments until the craft has moved out of sight before pressing on. The group reaches the locked door, one of them, sporting short black hair and an eye patch over his right eye, draws water from a small pouch on his side and uses the liquid with cutting precision, slicing the lock in half as the group swiftly enter the building, closing the door behind them so as not to be seen by the patrols.

"Alright boys, you know what needs to get done. Grab the stuff and get back out." The one eyed man says as the group scatter and begin opening the crates around the room, smashing or slicing them open.

Another of the group Rinku, a teenager no older than fifteen sets down the first of the items in the center of the room at the feet of the boss. "Here it is Kota, the spice fresh from Omashu." he says joyfully as the others finish gathering their portions.

"Alright, good job boys. We'll get these back to base and then it's to Narook's for dinner on me." Kota says as the others give light, quiet cheers, being careful to keep their voices down so as not to alert any nearby civilians. The Red Monsoon members grab their goods and in single file head toward the door. Just before they get outside they are taken by surprise as several metalbending officers storm in through the previously clear exit.

"Don't move! Hands in the air!" One officer shouts as the Monsoons drop their packages and put up their hands. Several more officers come in through the other end of the building, ending any hopes of escape for the triad members. "Up against the wall!" the officer yells again as the members comply, the younger members looking reasonably nervous, though Rinko notices that Kota is quietly composed and even sports a light smile as the officers cuff the group. "When did Bei Fong lower the standard for officer fitness?" the waterbender jokes, gesturing toward a noticeably heavy set officer. He then turns his head slightly back and looks at the lead officer. "Hey, where's Saikhan?" Kota says casually.

"Busy." the officer says blandly.

"Listen kiddo. Since you're obviously clueless as to how things work I'll make it simple so that even you can understand it. Me and Saikhan have a mutual agreement with these sort of things. So why don't you save yourself the embarrassment and get him over here ASAP." this display of authority and cool-headed leadership impresses Rinku as the officer takes a few steps back from the group, the other officers following his lead.

"Oh don't worry, we're going to take good care of you boys." The officer says as he, unknown to the Agni Kai members, draws water from a satchel on his side onto his right hand, forming it into ice claws. The other officers follow suit bringing water, fire, and earth to them, the rather round officer, sporting a thick black mustache himself, forms a fireball. "We'll take good care of you." the officer gives his final words before the group unleash a torrent of their elements on the unsuspecting Agni Kai triad team. The surprised triad members fall quickly with only two or three able to make a break for the door, those remaining few are cut down by a second volley. As the last of them falls the officers move to stand over them and begin to remove their uniforms, revealing street clothes.

"Ha, Agnis are so stupid." the husky firebender says as he turns to one of the earthbenders, removing his helmet revealing his straight black hair parted down the middle of his head. "Ain't that right Seok?"

"All too true Husam." an earthbender with a short stubbly beard chuckles, his shoulder length hair kept down by a rag wrapped around his head. "What do you say boss?" the two turn to their leader as he stands, wearing a white gi with black trousers.

"I say we get this stuff back to the hideout before the real cops actually get here." he organizes the men and they grab the cases, loading them into the trucks. He stops however, walking back toward Kota's body, snatching the patch from over his bad eye. "Thank you." he says casually, tucking his trophy into his pocket before walking away.

"That Hasook guy gives me the creeps. No wonder he took charge of this job." Husam says as Seok and he watch the waterbender pass them on his way out. He'd only been with them for about a month but Zolt, before the loss of his bending, had been so impressed by his skill that he was already being put in charge of missions. And now with Zolt and several members devoid of their bending as well as the Equalist threat looming, the members of the Triple Threats as well as the other triads had been conducting smaller operations to remain under Amon's detection. This forced them to come into conflict much more often now, fighting over less and less.

"Yeah but who else would take the job? Not me. But we better get back, don't want to get caught out in Equalist hours." Seok says as they load up in the trucks and head home, leaving their dirty work behind.

The group eventually arrive at a small factory on the edge of the city. The building looks to be deserted as the truck pulls up to the loading dock. Hasook, Seok, and Husam head inside as the others unload the truck. The waterbender walks to the door and gives a knock. A small slot on the door slowly opens and a set of eyes appears. After confirming their identities the slot closes and the door opens as the three walk in to a large room filled with fully functioning machinery; young children, the oldest no more than twelve, on the active assembly line stuffing pillow cases with unknown materials. The three walk by them on their way to the office on the second floor, heading up the stairwell that overlooks the entire ground floor. As they reach the office itself they see a man wearing a black gi with matching colored pants arguing with one of the children in front of him. The man's hair is long and unkempt, going down to his mid back. He also sports short black stubble on his chin similar to Seok's.

"Now listen and listen good Skoochy. If you and the others don't get back to work the line becomes quite unsafe for everyone else. And I'd hate for one of your little friends to have another accident. The work place can be so dangerous for children." He forms a fireball in his hand. "We clear?" the man says as the boy concedes and heads back down the stairs. He then turns his attention to the three. "Hasook, buddy! How you been?" the two greet each other with a strong handshake. "So what brings you here?"

"Got that shipment of spice for you Soza. Don't ask how." Hasook says as the group head into the office. "So how's the desk job treating you?"

"Truth be told it's not like cracking skulls on the streets like the good old days." Soza sys leaning up against his desk. Hasook and he had been good friends ever since the firebender stopped him from trashing a restaurant after an argument with the chef. He saw the potential of the young former pro-bender and recruited him into the Triple Threats.

"Yeah but at least your not out there with those crazy Equalists kidnapping every bender they come across." Husam says casually as he leans against a wall.

"What are you worried about? They wouldn't even be able to lift you to take you to Amon." Seok jokes as the two start to laugh.

"Still with those guys out there, and Zolt with no bending, I don't know if we'll survive this one." Soza says, peering out of a window on the other side of the room that overlooks the streets of the city. He looks down on the desk at an open letter, quickly tucking it under a stack of papers. The action does not get past the waterbender however.

"What's that. All about?"

"Oh, just a letter from home. Nothing to worry about."

* * *

At one of the secret chi blocker training facilities a large number of Equalists train as they prepare for when they are needed next. One, however, is not fairing very well against his opponent. He is eventually knocked on his rear by a kick from them. "You okay?" a woman's voice comes from the kneeling masked figure who offers a hand to her downed friend.

"Not sure if I'm cut out for this stuff." he accepts her hand and stands up. The man's name was Haga. He'd joined the Equalist cause only about a week ago after having lost his job and being turned down for several others. While this in itself was depressing, he couldn't help but notice each time he'd lost out to a bender. After leaving one of these failed interviews he ended up in the park where a protestor had been speaking about Amon and what he could do for all non-benders. These factors had convinced him to join their cause and he was soon put into a training group lead by Sun.

"Come on you just need more practice. Besides, someone has to teach those benders their place. Their the reason people like us can't get jobs, the reason a lot of us are getting laid off. And now they have some special police force after us. We need to stick together Haga. Just remember; you're doing this for your wife and little girl. If we follow Amon, you can make a better life for them and every non-bender in the United Republic." Sun encourages as she then turns to the other trainees, who quickly get back to work after watching the scene.

The man stands up and resumes his fighting stance. "Okay, let's do this!" he shouts excitedly as he rushes toward his opponent with renewed energy.


	2. Recruitment Drive: Part 1

A few nights later at The Sapphire Shirshu, one of Republic City's liveliest night clubs, Firuz sits at the bar with Kiri as the two discuss the formation of the team as the lively music from the band is only slightly muted by the sound of the patrons high energy dancing. The earthbender stops to take a sip of his iced drink as his assistant attempts to give him options on possible recruits.

"Okay, so if we can get this three I think we can form an effective breaching team for..." she stops, seeing that Firuz is paying no attention to anything she has to say and slams the dossiers onto the counter top. "Are you even listening to me? I'm doing all the work for you and off the clock I might add."

"Kiri, listen." he says placing his glass down and looking over at the young woman. "If we're going to win we need more than stats on paper to decide a squad. This is going to take people who can think outside the box, people with character, and most importantly..." he pushes the dossiers back to her. "people who aren't under the thumb of the city officials. If we're going to be doing some recruiting we need to think outside the box ourselves." Just as the two are about to discuss further the manager of the club has the band stop playing and has the various radios in the room turned to their maximum volume as the confused patrons listen as Avatar Korra's powerful voice comes on the air.

* * *

"Amon, I challenge you to a duel, no task force, no chi blockers, just the two of us tonight at midnight on Avatar Aang Memorial Island. Let's cut to the chase and settle this thing, if you're man enough to face me." she says as many in the club cheer her challenge on. Firuz however, is unimpressed by the girls bold move and heads toward the door, Kiri, her hands full of papers, right behind him. "Stupid kid's gonna get herself killed." he says grabbing his jacket from the coat check.

At Triple Threat headquarters, Lightning Bolt Zolt has just received very disturbing information from firebender Two Toed Ping. "You're serious? You're a hundred percent sure about this?" Zolt asks the nervous man. Although having his bending stripped from him by Amon, this set back had done little to cool his volcano level temper as he demanded to know if Ping's claims were true.

"All true boss, guy in the Agni Kai Triad was there, saw the whole thing." Ping waits as he views Zolt contemplating the new information. "You want a few of the boys to take care of it?"

"No, don't need any lower moral with those Equalist jokers out there. He close to anyone else who might be in on it?" Zolt asks.

"Just these guys boss." the mustached man places a folder on the desk as Zolt combs through it. The Triple Threat leader stands and turns his back to Ping, opening a file cabinet behind him and hands it to the gangster.

"This came in yesterday. You remember Firuz don't you? Metalbender cop back a few years ago. Says he's putting some kind of team together and needs some volunteers. Send 'em to him. If everything turns out right we won't need to get our hands dirty in the slightest."

* * *

"You got it boss." Ping says taking the papers with him and exiting the room.

A few days later down in the Dragon Flats Burroughs, Hasook, Seok and Husam are making their daily rounds, having shaken out what little protection money the residents can muster. As the three head back to their custom red satomobile, Seok is busy counting up their cash. "Pretty good take for folks who claim to be barely scrapping by."

"Yeah well don't get too attached to it. Zolt's got to take his cut first." Hasook says as the trio reach the car and see a note tucked between the radiator. The waterbender steps forward, pulls the paper out and begins reading. His eyes widen as he continues reading. Husam and Seok ask him several times what the contents of the paper are, receiving no answer until Hasook finally turns to them. "I need to have a little chat with Soza." he says with a surprising calm as he gets into the passengers side of the vehicle with Seok hopping in the back and Husam driving. The two pester Hasook on the contents of the letter, only to be answered once more by complete silence. Ever since being teamed with him the two friends had always gotten an eerie vibe from the waterbender, who never seemed to be in a talkative mood, though with the things their profession involved it was best sometimes not to dig too deeply into someone else' business.

A short time later the three arrive at Soza's facility only to see him taking several boxes of his possessions with him outside of the building. They stop feet in front of him and get out, Hasook taking the lead. "What gives bro? How did we get recruited into some ragtag task force?"

"Wait, we what?" Seok says with a very distressed expression on his face.

"Since when do we work for the council?" Husam questions.

"I don't know but they must be pretty desperate if a womanizer, a deadbeat dad, a pro-bending washout, and a scruffy factory manager are the best Tarrlok can do." Soza says as the others help him carry his boxes over to his truck, which already has a huge crate loaded into the back.

"Oh I can assure you gentlemen, the good councilman has absolutely nothing to do with this force." they turn to see a woman dressed in a classic green Earth Kingdom dress. Seok, the self entitled ladies man that he was couldn't help but drool over her as she sat on the hood of Soza's truck.

"Well miss..." Hasook addresses her, wondering her name.

"Kiri. If you gentlemen will follow me I'll gladly show you to your new place of employment." Seok quickly rushes over, discarding the boxes he had previously been carrying, and overs his hand to help her down.

"This has certainly been a day of surprises." Husam notes.

"Still one more though." Soza says jumping into the flatbed of the truck and, grabbing a crowbar out of it, pries the large crate open, revealing a motorcycle, hay being used as packing material for it. "He hops down patting Hasook on his back. "Beautiful isn't she?"

"Yeah she is!" the waterbender says excitedly, his eyes glowing at the site of the vehicle. Both Husam and Seok are very startled to see this swing of emotion from someone who, from what they could tell was stone hard and devoid of any real feeling.

* * *

"And she's all yours." Soza says, surprising his friend a second time. "Couldn't endure seeing you ride around in that Cabbage car after work anymore. You can thank me later. Right now let's see what all this task force business is about." Hasook, seeing his new gift is fully fueled, gets the motorcycle down and, starting up the finely tuned engine, promptly follows Kiri, who has gotten a ride with Soza as the others follow her lead to meet whoever is in charge of this operation.

In the suburbs of the city, the team of all female pro-benders known as the Red Sands Rabaroos makes their way down the street, having just left the gym after two hours of intense training in preparation for the upcoming tournament. The girls, lead by Adi, the team captain and firebender, casually walk down the street, gaining shouts of praise and cheers from fans as they make their way to their destination. They even sign a few autographs on the way. "Hey guys." a young man, little older than fourteen says standing behind a desk in the book store the girls had just entered. The young man, Binh, was a fan and longtime friend of Adi as well as an amateur firebender and attended every match he could to support his old friend and she in turn, always viewed him as a younger brother.

"How's our biggest fan doing?" Umi, the waterbender asks. "The new issues in yet?"

"I'm great. And yeah there right on that rack over there." He points them out to her and she quickly heads to the other side of the small shop to see for herself, while the others begin a conversation. "So you coming to cheer us on at the tournament? If you hadn't heard we'll be winning by a landslide." Ula, the team earthbender boasts as she slaps Binh on the back.

"Oh man, wish I could guys, but my parents are gonna be out all week and I have to stay and watch the shop." He says with a disappointed expression.

"They've been gone a lot lately. Where do they go anyway." Adi inquires.

"I don't know. They just told me that it's something important and that I'll understand soon."

"That's exactly what my parents used to tell me when they used to send me to stay with my granny when they wanted to..."Umi comments from across the room before suddenly stopping, the others giving her a peculiar look. "Um, nothing." she says rushed as she turns her attention back to the rack of books. After several seconds of awkward silence, Adi speaks again.

"Moving on. Well sorry you'll miss the tournament up close and personal." Adi says getting back on track.

"Hey, at least I can still listen over the radio. Either way, you guys are gonna kill the competition."

"No doubt!" Ula says, joyously stomping her foot down, accidentally kicking up a pillar of earth through the floor. "Oops." she says softly as the others look over at her.

"Oh come on, they just got over me almost burning the place down with the sneezing thing." Adi chastises her as the earthbender puts the pillar back down.

"It's cool you guys, I always keep a few extra rugs in the back. One over that and no one will even notice until I can get someone to fix it." Binh says as Ula gives an embarrassed smile and Umi walks over to the counter with her selection.

"Well if that's all done I'd like to buy these please."

"Alright." Binh takes her money and gives her the change as the three head for the door.

"See you later Binh." Adi says as they exit. "And don't worry about your folks. They've probably got some big surprise in store for you." As the three begin to make their way home a man in a long trench coat bumps into Umi, knocking her to the ground. The man doesn't even acknowledge her as he continues to walk on.

"Jerk. Why don't you watch where you're going?" the waterbender yells to the man, who is already out of sight. Adi and Ula help her up as she continues to shout.

"You know he's already gone right?" Adi states. "I can never figure it out. I'm the firebender yet somehow you have the biggest temper on the team. Hey what's that?" she notices a letter attached to the side of Umi's light blue skirt.

"Weird, that guy must have dropped it." Ula says as they open it and quickly become confused with it's contents. " From an anonymous admirer."

"You sure it's not another fan letter for me?" Umi asks confidently.

"It's addressed to all of us." Adi tells her as she continues reading aloud. "We've been watching you for some time and you show considerable skill in you field. While we are aware you are currently preparing for the upcoming tournament, something far more important is happening in this city. As you may or may not be aware, the Equalists have been on the rise and their leader even possesses the ability to strip a person of their bending. This poses a threat to not only benders, but to all citizens of the United Republic and quiet possibly the rest of the world. So at this time we ask that you add us in our battle against the Equalists, use your impressive talents to combat Amon's Revolution. We will await your answer."

"So what does this mean for us?" Ula asks as their leader looks in the opposite direction, her expression, one of uneasiness. Adi then turns back to her teammates, a wide, forced smile on her face as she burns the letter.

"It means we get back to work." She continues on her way back to the trio's apartment as Ula and Umi exchange concerned looks before following.


End file.
